Dose of DMU blog » Life in Des Moines

20 Mar

Color your world

It’s spring break for many students at Des Moines University, which makes it a great week for enjoying arts, entertainment and local events – in other words, much-deserved breaks from textbooks, lectures, labs and studying. You can relish all three this Friday, March 23, at the Des Moines Art Center’s HUE, a special installment themed around the color aquamarine.

Haven’t been to the art center? You’re missing out! Located at 4700 Grand Avenue, an easy walk from the DMU campus, the center is a gorgeous facility with an impressive collection of paintings, sculpture (inside and around the grounds), mixed media and much more. While there’s a fee to attend HUE (see below), admission to the art center is free. It has a lovely cafe and fun gift shop, too, and often offers classes, movies and other events.

14 Mar

Wordless Wednesday: Signs of spring

by Nicole Branstad

13 Mar

Kudos to DMU physician assistant students!

by Barb Boose

Iowa is a relatively flat state, but on a recent Sunday morning in Des Moines, more than 600 people got plenty of elevation: They participated in the American Lung Association Fight for Air Climb, during which they climbed 66 floors of stairs in three downtown office buildings. Participants included a team of five DMU physician assistant students, with 11 more volunteering at the event along with PA Assistant Professor Laura Delaney.

According to Micki Sandquist, executive director of ALA in Iowa, Fight for Air raised $164,227, making it the organization’s biggest fundraiser.

22 Feb

Wordless Wednesday: West Side Story

by Nicole Branstad

13 Feb

Let’s get coordinated

by Barb Boose

Coordinated medical care, with fewer hand-offs, more efficiency and lower costs, is a goal for many organizations. Consumers/patients seem to want it, and health care payers – including Medicare under the auspices of the Accountable Care Organization policies of health care reform – are increasingly changing their payment methodologies to favor those who can produce it. The demand for more coordinated care continues to push medical care providers toward greater “integration.”

But what exactly does coordinated care look like? And how do physicians, hospitals and other components of the health care delivery system get there?